The hunt for the blackest black
7/1/202635 min
Today we're on a hunt with artists through time, searching for the blackest black. We’re after the deepest blacks, the most accurate blacks and the most atmospheric blacks.
Beks is joined by artist Stuart Semple to help answer questions such as: is black really a colour and how do we see the colour black?
Step back in time to the Palaeolithic era to discover ancient cave paintings at the Lascaux caves. Then jump forward in time to hear about the scientific breakthrough Vantablack and the debates it has caused.
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Stuart Semple is a multidisciplinary British artist whose work spans painting, performance, internet art, and installation. His work is known for its vibrant use of colour and techniques that challenge societal norms and question the role of the artist.
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You can email us with any questions via podcast@nationalgallery.org.uk
Find out more about the podcast on our website: www.nationalgallery.org.uk/podcast
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Paintings mentioned:
Frans Hals, ‘The Laughing Cavalier’, 1624 © The Wallace Collection, London https://www.wallacecollection.org/explore/collection/search-the-collection/laughing-cavalier/
John Singer Sargent, ‘Madame X (Virginie Amélie Avegno Gautreau)’, 1883-84 © The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/12127
John Singer Sargent, ‘Lord Ribblesdale’, 1902 https://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/paintings/john-singer-sargent-lord-ribblesdale
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Further reading:
Find out more about the history of the Lascaux caves: https://lascaux.fr/en/history-of-lascaux/
If you want to find out more about how we see colour, check out our first ever episode of 'Stories in Colour': https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gYTWp_iLRh4&list=PLvb2y26xK6Y5oKGCTKesXyO-LR3f2XcZF&index=19
Isaac Newton, ‘Opticks: A Treatise of the Reflexions, Refractions, Inflections and Colours of Light’, 1704 [Book] https://wellcomecollection.org/works/d445akky/items
Find out more about Vantablack: https://www.vantablack.co.uk/
Take a look at Asif Khan's Hyundai Pavillion: https://www.asif-khan.com/project/hyundai-pavilion/
Find out more about Sir Anish Kapoor’s work with Vantablack: https://www.theartnewspaper.com/2020/03/11/anish-kapoor-to-unveil-worlds-blackest-sculptures-during-2021-venice-biennale https://www.southbankcentre.co.uk/whats-on/anish-kapoor/#venue
Find out more about Stuart Semple's work: https://stuartsemple.com/
Find out more about MIT's "blackest black" coating and 'The Redemption of Vanity': https://news.mit.edu/2019/blackest-black-material-cnt-0913
Robert Fludd, ‘Utriusque cosmi maioris scilicet et minoris metaphysica, physica atque technica historia ... [Tractatus secundus de naturae simia seu technica macrocosmi historia]’, 1624 [Book] https://wellcomecollection.org/works/tymqmuxa/items?canvas=42
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Episode credits:
Guest: Stuart Semple
Host and executive producer: Beks Leary
Producer: Harry Rosehill
Researcher: Hannah Rogers
Technicians: Ian Warren, Tom Gulliver and Timothy Carpenter
Video Producers: Jeanne Kenyon and Alessandro Sorenti
Editor: Oli Mason
Theme music: Theo Elwell
Clips
Transcript preview
First 90 secondsBex Leary· Host0:00
[gentle music] "When Crow was white, he decided the sun was too white. He decided it glared much too whitely. He decided to attack it and defeat it. He got his strength flush and in full glitter. He clawed and fluffed his rage up. He aimed his beak direct at the sun's center. He laughed himself to the center of himself and attacked. At his battle cry, trees grew suddenly old, shadows flattened, but the sun brightened. It brightened, and Crow returned charred black. He opened his mouth, but what came out was charred black. 'Up there,' he managed, 'where white is black and black is white, I won.'" That is Ted Hughes' Crow Fall. Welcome to Stories in Color, a podcast from the National Gallery searching for histories of how color has changed the world. Today, we're on a hunt with artists through time for the blackest black, the deepest black, the most accurate blacks, the most atmospheric black pigments. I'm Bex Leary from the digital department here at the National Gallery, and with me today is our guest, Stuart Semple. Stuart is a multidisciplinary British artist whose work spans painting, performance, internet art, and installation. His work is known